108860: Ruling on breast enhancement surgery

I am a young woman who is about to get married, but I suffer from the problem of having a small chest. Is it permissible for me to use creams that help to enlarge the breasts?.

Praise be to Allaah.

If the aim in enlarging the breasts is to increase beauty,
that is not permissible, because it is changing the creation of Allaah. If
the breasts are so small as to cause you embarrassment and distress, then
there is nothing wrong with enlarging them in ways that will not cause you
harm, such as using creams and so on.

Treating that with creams is easier than having surgery which
involves anaesthesia or uncovering the ‘awrah in the event that there is no
specialized female doctor available.

What we have mentioned about differentiating between
beautification and removing faults is the general guideline with regard to
cosmetic procedures. Please see the answer to question no.
47694.

There follow some of the comments of scholars on this issue:

The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas
were asked:

I am a young man, eighteen years old. Four years ago my
breast became prominent and that was accompanied by some pain. After a
while, the pain went away, praise be to Allaah, but the prominence remained.
This prominence of my breast is obvious even under clothing. I asked the
specialist about that and he said that this can easily be removed by means
of cosmetic surgery. Is it permissible to have this surgery? Please note
that this problem causes me embarrassment in front of other people.

They replied: It is permissible for you to have cosmetic
surgery to remove this prominence if it is thought most likely that the
surgery will be successful and that the harms will not outweigh or be equal
to the benefits.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send
blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
End quote.

They were also asked (25/59): one of my colleagues had gotten
married, praise be to Allaah, but he came to me and said that his wife wants
to have cosmetic surgery on her face and breasts, because her nose is large
and wide, and she wants to reduce it by means of the easy methods that
modern science has developed. Is there any doubt about this surgery or is
there any sin involved? Please note that not doing it may lead to
psychological distress because this fault appears so prominently on her
face.

They replied: If the situation is as described, and there is
the hope that the surgery will be successful and will not lead to a greater
or equal harm, then it is permissible to do it in order to achieve the
desired purpose, otherwise it is not permissible.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah send
blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
End quote.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was
asked about some cosmetic procedures such as straightening the nose,
liposuction, breast reduction or enhancement, and so on – what is the ruling
on these procedures? What are the guidelines, may Allaah bless and reward
you and benefit others through you.

He replied: With regard to the beautification that you
mentioned, beautification is of two types. The first type is done to remove
faults and the second type is done to increase beauty. The first type –
removing faults – is permissible; if a person’s nose is bent, it is
permissible for him to have surgery to straighten it, because this is
removing a fault. The nose is not normal, rather it is bent, so he wants to
straighten it. The same applies to a man who has a squint; this is
undoubtedly a fault, so if he wants to have surgery to correct the fault, it
is permissible and there is no reason why he should not, because this is
removing a fault. If a man’s nose is cut off due to an accident, can he have
a prosthetic nose installed? An incident of this type occurred at the time
of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The nose of
one of the Sahaabah was cut off in battle and the man had a nose of silver
made, but the silver tarnished and developed an unpleasant smell, so the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave him
permissible to have a nose made of gold, so he did that. Hence we say: is it
for beautification or to remove a fault? Removing a fault is permissible.
The same applies if the lip is cleft (harelip); it is permissible to join
the two sides because this is removing a fault.

With regard to the second type, which is increasing beauty,
this is what is not permissible. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) cursed women who file their teeth for beauty, i.e.,
they file them and make gaps between them for the purpose of beautification.
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
cursed that, and he cursed women who put on hair extensions by adding hair
to their short hair and so on.

It remains for us to examine whether an operation to enhance
or reduce the breast is permissible or not. This is a kind of
beautification, unless the woman who has small breasts wants to increase
them so that they can hold more milk, i.e., if her breast is too small and
cannot hold enough milk to satisfy for her child. In that case we may say
that there is nothing wrong with it. But for the purpose of beautification
it is not permissible. This is the guideline with regard to cosmetic
surgery. Cosmetic surgery is of two types: the first is removing faults and
there is nothing wrong with that; the second is increasing beauty and that
is not permissible. End quote from al-Liqa’ al-Shahri (50/8).